Westworld Renewed for Season 2 on HBO

HBO takes a bold step forward today, announcing the official renewal of its entire fall Sunday lineup. HBO has renewed new sci-fi drama Westworld for Season 2. It also confirmed that there will be a Season 2 for the Sarah Jessica Parker comedy Divorce as well as Insecure, which is lead by Issa Rae. All three series have been renewed for 10 episodes each.

Divorce and Insecure have been confirmed for a 2017 return. Westworld Season 2 isn't as clearly laid out. The production process on the thriller is extremely elaborate, and it is said to possibly return in very late 2017. But fans can likely look for new episodes in the first half of 2018. President of HBO Programming Casey Bloys made the announcement this morning, which was picked up by Deadline.

The move comes as Bloys first major decision and renewal since taking over HBO programming in May. He is responsible for developing both Divorce and Insecure. And he helped get Westworld on track after taking over HBO's drama department in January.

Westworld has been received well by critics, though the show was postponed midway through production for a revamp. Divorce and Insecure have also been bringing in good reviews and ratings. The decision to renew the three HBO shows before their first seasons have played out came as a surprise, and breaks tradition. The announcement comes just 7 episodes into each show's current run. The move came after analyzing six weeks worth of ratings data. Says Bloys about Westworld.

"It came out strong but I wanted to make sure that it stayed strong and we had something great here."

Westworld is tracking as one of HBO's biggest first seasons ever. To date, it is pulling in an average of 11.7 million viewers every Sunday. The show has outperformed Game Of Thrones in its first season, and is just slightly below the first season of True Detective. Divorce is pulling in a strong 4.4 million viewers for its first season, while Insecure averages 3.2 million viewers per episode with social media helping each of these shows to grow week to week.

None of the three shows will undergo any major creative changes heading into their respective Season 2 runs. Though Westworld has been criticized for its sex and violence, it's up to the series' show runners whether or not they tone it down, says Bloys. Though this pas Sunday's episode of Westworld brought a big twist and reveal, there are still three more episodes to go.